Hotel Culture

Most people will have a specific idea in their head when they think of what a hotel looks like, and what kind of features and service you’d expect to find in one. Although this view will depend on where in the world you’re from, there is a classic depiction as portrayed in old Hollywood movies and popularised TV dramas that has set the standards and expectations we hold of hotels today. Fred Astaire famously performed Puttin’ on the Ritz in the high formalwear in an ode to luxury full-service hotels. In-fact there’s a whole Wikipedia page dedicated to films that centre around hotels with a similar make-up of VIP-treatment with guests being waited on hand and foot in the grandest Victorian-era buildings.

Despite the precedent that has been established in the box-office, in reality hotels have always come in all shapes and sizes, catering to different audiences with various budgets, but now more than ever hotels are creating more personalised experiences. Moreover, for this reason many cardboard cut-out hotel models, luxury and budget alike, have fallen out with favour with the masses who are increasingly opting for smaller venues with features that are unique, and let’s face it Instagrammable. Nevertheless, whether for business or pleasure the majority of hotel-goers stay over on a needs-must basis because of what they’re up to in a particular location.

Keeping this in mind, metropolitan hotels such as the numerous offerings in Leeds have to be a practical and accessible solution above all else, with good taste and hygiene as a bare minimum. The level of luxury most often increases with the price-tag, but it is the character of a hotel that makes it stand head and shoulders above the others. Arguably, choosing to be unique, particularly boutique hotels, run the risk of not being able to appeal to everyone, but once this is contrasted against the propensity to become someone’s favourite hotel because of that uniqueness, which instils a loyalty that will have them singing from the rooftop bar about you, it’s well worth it.

This is something 42 The Calls Hotel strives for, as a luxury boutique hotel that has a battery of loyal returning customers for achieving a distinctive peaceful country cottage feel with its thick cosy furnishings, sturdy wooden doors and exposed beams, located in the historical epicentre of industrial activity, and in what is now a heavily urbanised city. We are fairly unique in Leeds, being a heritage building positioned by the river Aire, and so have an inherent connection to nature and water, that internationally recognised symbol of calm.

Beyond that we want our guests to never want to leave, or at least regularly return to us, and not just because we value their custom but because we genuinely enjoy building trustful relationships with customers, old and new, where they can expect reliability and respect. We shape our culture at 42 The Calls Hotel around the expectations of our clientele and as such are always working to deliver an exceptional service that ensures upon checking out, guests feel relaxed and refreshed, believing their hotel experience to have been the very cherry on top of the cake of their time in Leeds.